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‘We are not giving up the fight for hospital’

Emma Fitzgerald
14/12/2006

CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to continue their fight to save Hope Hospital's maternity services.

Midwives were waiting anxiously on the unit on Friday as the decision filtered through that the maternity and neonatal units will be closed.

Gill Morrison was working in the neonatal intensive care unit when the news broke.

She said: "Everybody was in uproar when we were told and now morale among staff is absolutely rock bottom. Everybody is determined to fight it rather than just accept it.

"We've already had a meeting and they've told us our jobs are secure and we'll be redeployed elsewhere within three to five years. They've also said we'll be able to access more training if we want to beforehand."

She added: "We weren't expecting this decision but we're not going to let it lie."

Brian Minor, chair of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health Forum, attended Friday's meeting and said it seemed a done deal from the beginning.

He said: "They didn't even consider the financial aspects. It costs nothing to keep the units at Hope yet they're going to start from scratch somewhere else.

"There was no mention of what a good hospital Hope is and the fact it trains most of the midwives in the area. If they close the maternity how the hell are they going to train midwives?

"The fact remains that Salford has one of the highest levels of deprivation and non access to cars yet these haven't even been considered."